What books does J.K. Rowling recommend?

With a penchant for matchmaking and interfering in the romantic lives of others, Emma Woodhouse is a headstrong, beautiful, and rich young woman who sees no need for either love or marriage.

Her skills, however, are put to the test when she tries arranging a match for her protégée as her plans soon unravel and consequences she never would have expected unfold. J.K. Rowling has supposedly lost count of how many times she has read Jane Austen novels with “Emma” being her favorite saying she has read it at least 20 times.

Narrated by the victim, the book tells the story of Paula Spencer, a middle-aged woman struggling in her marriage to an abusive husband with a drinking problem. The title of the book comes from an incident where Paula’s husband asks how she received a bruise he was responsible for to which she replies she walked into a door.

Paula recounts her pleasant childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the pleasure she felt in the early stages of her marriage to her husband and its eventual downfall, which left her feeling powerless. Telling O, The Oprah Magazine, Rowling says “I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such a believeable, fully rounded female character from any other heterosexual male writer in any age.”

Published in 2005 by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the book tells the story of the political genius that was U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and the men who served with him in his cabinet in the mid 19th-century. The book focuses on the leader’s mostly successful attempts to mediate competing personalities and political interests during a rather tumultuous time in American history that saw abolition and the American Civil War.

Goodwin attributes this success to his character which was forged by experiences that shaped him above his more seasoned rivals. In addition to being a favorite of J.K Rowling, US President Barack Obama has cited it as one of his favorite books and was said to have used it in constructing his own cabinet.

An orphaned Maria Merryweather finds wonder and mystery at Moonacre Manor and feels as if she has entered paradise. Like the manor itself, Maria’s uncle and new guardian, Sir Benjamin, and every person and animal she meets is as comforting as an old friend; she feels at home right away.

However, she soon discovers that beneath this beauty, there is a tragedy that happened long ago shadowing the estate, village, and vicinity with Maria determined to find out what happened, change it, and leave her own mark to what she hope is a happy ending. The children’s book is as charming as Harry Potter with Rowling stating she “absolutely adored” the heartwarming book and can be enjoyed by anyone at any age.

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